


Blue Laguz

by Bounemr



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, I just wanted a laguz to show up in 3H is that too much to ask, No one has any idea what to think of Ranulf and He Knows, POV Multiple, and exploring how the main folks would react to a laguz because that's the actual point of this, anyway it's basically just the meeting bc this is mostly a proof of concept, cursing, rating is for cursing only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26504038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bounemr/pseuds/Bounemr
Summary: Ranulf appears in Three Houses, and meets the lords at the same time as Byleth. Claude, Dimitri, Edelgard, and of course, Rhea are all very intrigued by this cool cat.
Relationships: Claude von Riegan & Lay | Ranulf, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Lay | Ranulf, Edelgard von Hresvelg & Lay | Ranulf, Rhea & Lay | Ranulf
Kudos: 13





	Blue Laguz

Claude’s first thought when he’s rescued from a bandit’s axe is, _“Sweet merciful Goddess, fuck me!”_

He then takes what little composure he has left, ties it up with a neat little bow, and chucks it cleanly out the window, even as he mentally pats himself on the back for _finally_ cursing to the Goddess like a proper Fódlani. And in the right language and everything! Expletives are _so hard_ to change.

Edelgard chastises him for running away but what is he supposed to do? Sit and watch the bandit get gored by a massive blue lion? Wait for the beast to finish off that guy? Pray that its intervention on his behalf means it’s on his side and not just attacking indiscriminately?

Yeah, no. Claude hightails it out of there like he’s got Seiros herself on his heels and does _not_ look back. Hopefully the bandit will be enough of a meal for… _whatever_ that thing is, and it won’t give chase.

Bandits are one thing. He can handle bandits. But when bandits get the jump on him and _then_ a giant blue lion jumps in out of nowhere, Claude’s capacity for bullshit just about fills up and he has little choice left but to make a strategic retreat.

He makes a mental note to brush up on fighting beasts. Assassins and bandits and soldiers are all child’s play, but Claude is suddenly _very_ aware how woefully underprepared he is to fight things that move on four legs. Which, it’s not like it comes up _often_ , but if it comes up even _once_ and he isn’t prepared, that could be the end of Claude von Riegan – hence, _run away from the giant cat_.

When Claude slows down and there’s another, more welcome, intervention, Claude finally has a moment to gather his thoughts. Remire is a nice little place. Quiet. Peaceful. Definitely not the kind of place where he’d think he’d end up wanting little else but to curl up in the dirt and work through an existential crisis, and yet…

Dimitri and Edelgard are both fawning over the mercenary – the Ashen Demon – but Claude’s brain, the one he’s oh so proud of, is still trying to catch up with the other elephant in the room. …Cat in the street. Human? He’s (Claude _thinks_ it’s a he? He hasn’t introduced himself yet and Claude still isn’t sure _what he is_ , so it’s hard to say.) definitely more human than the massive blue cat that gored the bandit earlier in the forest, and yet Claude is quite certain he’s the same entity. He wouldn’t believe it, frankly, if he didn’t see the guy _shapeshift_ right in front of him.

Oh, and also the little cat ears perched atop the man’s head, and the lazily swishing tail on his backside, and the fact that his hair and fur matches the color of the cat in the forest perfectly, and the cheeky smirk on the damn cat’s face as it watches Claude attempt to politely figure out what in the world is happening.

Being completely and utterly unable to think of a single thing to say to him that isn’t potentially _extremely_ offensive, Edelgard and Dimitri both focus on the Ashen Demon – Byleth – but Claude spies them both casting furtive glances the cat’s way, too.

Shit. Looks like the guy isn’t interested in talking first, so it’s up to Claude to risk looking like either an absolute ass or an absolute idiot. (That damn knowing smirk makes Claude think he’s going to come out of this looking like both. Luckily, the latter helps his façade with the other two leaders, and the first is… well considering the looks on their faces, he’ll be forgiven at least by his fellow house leaders. Plus, he’ll – hopefully – have some answers.)

So, Claude decides to introduce himself, politely biting down the question, “What the fuck are you?” to ask something altogether safer.

The man – cat – man? _Goddess._ He introduces himself as Ranulf, making absolutely no mention of _what the fuck_ he is to elaborate on the who. His tail does swing playfully, though, drawing the eye, which Claude is positive he’s doing purely to tease them all.

“Forgive us,” Dimitri says carefully, “but we have never seen… someone like you before.”

Ranulf just tilts his head, flicks his ears, and says, “You’ve never seen a cat before?”

_Asshole._ Claude thinks, valiantly failing to fight the overwhelming urge to laugh.

As Claude wheezes, Dimitri collects himself and says, as politely as ever, “Er… none quite like you, I’m afraid.” Which really doesn’t help stop Claude from collapsing from lack of breath.

Ranulf nods sagely. “You’re kind of weird, too, Your Highness.”

Claude thinks he likes Ranulf, and not just because, in hindsight, Ranulf saved his hide from a bandit. Whatever he is, he knows exactly what he’s doing, and as much as Claude wants all the answers about this mysterious shape-changing cat, watching Dimitri and Edelgard squirm over politeness and not knowing how to properly address him is _hilarious_. Full marks to Ranulf for milking it.

Maybe Ranulf will appreciate some milk, once they get back to the monastery. Or maybe that’s offensive. Hard to say, but Claude is starting to think Ranulf will appreciate the joke if nothing else.

Finally, Edelgard, who looks _supremely_ uncomfortable (like, Claude is frankly astonished at that expression – he really thought she would handle herself better with an unknown like this) asks, “Please pardon me for asking, but… are you… human?”

Ranulf snickers, and apparently Edelgard is either bold or uncomfortable enough for him, so he finally relents and answers, “Nah, I’m laguz. We’re a different thing.”

Edelgard looks like she goes through all seven stages of grief in a moment, and then oscillates between wary and furious, though it’s naturally all covered up by her princess coolness. So, that’s interesting. Claude will have to bug her about that later.

After all, there are so many things to focus on at the moment that even Claude risks losing track of them all. The Ashen Demon, her father – Jeralt! The blade breaker! Captain of the Knights of Seiros! – Edelgard’s strange expressions even now looking at Ranulf, just… Ranulf in general, the bandit attack in the first place, Ranulf and the mercenaries’ intervention in that attack, their coward supervising professor who Claude assumes isn’t coming back anytime soon and will most likely need replacing.

Ranulf is _by far_ the most intriguing, though. A complete unknown – much like Byleth (and distracted as he is, he has _not_ forgotten about her) – but oh so _outsider_. And here Claude thought his skin would set him apart.

He’s going to have to watch out for this Ranulf character, that’s for sure.

* * *

Dimitri would like to say that he takes Ranulf’s arrival with the grace and dignity his station as a prince implies, but that would be a bold-faced lie.

He should probably think about all the implications of Ranulf’s existence. Why he’s here, where he’s from, what a “laguz” is. And yet, in a flash of inspiration that Dimitri can only blame Sylvain, or perhaps Claude, for, the only thing that occupies Dimitri’s mind with regards to Ranulf as they march back to the monastery is, _“Goddess, he’s a_ literal _blue lion.”_

Which, frankly, is neither graceful nor dignified, he thinks.

Coloring aside, Ranulf reminds him rather much of Claude in personality, with those lazy jokes and purposeful needling and, of course, the withholding of information they’re _obviously_ fishing for, for what seems to be no purpose at all but to watch them stumble over their own etiquette training.

Yes, he’s rather _exactly_ like Claude. But Dimitri is still stuck on the fact that Ranulf is an _actual_ blue lion (or something close) that the only capacity he even registers these similarities in is a vague offense to the idea of Claude being a lion. And a somewhat less vague feeling of thankfulness that Claude is, in fact, _not_ one of his lions.

Byleth is _so_ much easier to handle, so he leaves Claude to badger Ranulf, for the most part, and makes conversation with her. He does fear she is either too shy or too polite to speak up any more than she does, and that he’s just blabbering on, but she’s attentive and doesn’t show any signs of discomfort (though as she doesn’t show many signs of _anything_ it’s not that reassuring) so he tries his best to be friendly with her.

And to keep an ear open and tuned into Claude’s conversation. He is still a prince, and even if no one in Fódlan has ever heard of a laguz before, he will _not_ be the one to say something stupidly offensive and make himself into a fool. (He learns some interesting terminology, including some words he should never repeat, and the laguz’ word for humans – beorc.)

Byleth, for all that she looks interested in _anything_ , seems to be paying their conversation some attention as well, so it’s not all that hard to do the same even as he chats with her.

Well, until Edelgard swoops in to steal her away, at least. At that point Byleth is somewhat monopolized. Dimitri knows she’s trying to recruit Byleth, but he also knows that Byleth’s answer to where her loyalties lie is her father, and that her father is (or was) a church soldier, and before that, if the family records are to be believed, Faerghan.

If Edelgard really wants Byleth on her side, perhaps she should focus a bit more on Jeralt. Dimitri may not be so politically minded as either of his peers, but that is the thought that occurs to him nonetheless, and so he strikes up a conversation with the grizzled mercenary.

By the time they reach the monastery, Dimitri actually has a few new lance techniques to try out. Time well spent.

It’s not until Felix catches sight of Ranulf and mutters something about “another” beast in man’s clothing (which, wonder of wonders, _Sylvain_ chides him for, and gets him to grudgingly admit to judging prematurely) that it occurs to Dimitri that yes, Ranulf is a cat. A beast. And from the glimpse of him on the battlefield that Dimitri had, a dangerous one.

Dimitri has no illusions that clever Ranulf is _like_ him. Beast or no, there is no indication of the madness that touches Dimitri’s mind in the thick of battle. He almost dismisses the thought outright until Ranulf pauses for a moment at the gate of the monastery and frowns.

“Nothing,” Ranulf says, waving off Claude’s questioning, “this place is just unexpectedly chaotic for a church.”

And what in the world does _that_ mean? The monastery seems to Dimitri to be one of the most peaceful places in Fódlan.

Claude echoes Dimitri’s thoughts, and Ranulf just chuckles. “Not like that. Laguz like me are more sensitive to the energies around us than you beorc. You should see our armies if you don’t believe me. Once things get real chaotic, _nothing_ can stop them.”

Oh. Perhaps they really are similar.

“The church is chaotic?” Claude is clearly thinking quite hard. Dimitri, meanwhile, is struggling to breathe. “Like a battlefield?”

Ranulf laughs. “Not nearly that bad! Still, churches are usually the most orderly places around. Took me off guard a bit, I guess.”

Suddenly, Edelgard, who has been quite insistent on avoiding Ranulf since he introduced himself as laguz (and what does _that_ mean?), turns to give the conversation her full attention.

Dimitri is still focused on what Ranulf’s words about laguz armies implies.

Battle madness. The chaotic energies of the battlefield overwhelming them until they are unstoppable. Unthinking, even? Dimitri can’t know without prying deeper, and he’s frankly terrified to do so.

He’s never denied that Felix’s observation of him is entirely correct. He is a boar prince. A wild animal. Unthinking, and unstoppable killing _beast_.

Goddess forgive him, but even if it isn’t quite the same, even if what Ranulf speaks of is nothing like Dimitri is thinking, the mere thought of an entire species of people succumbing to even the mere practical aspect of what plagues Dimitri (That is, only the battle madness – not the… ghosts that he sees even now in this peaceful place – or… or is it truly so peaceful? The thought unsettles Dimitri so deeply that he turns from it, to focus instead on the no less unsettling but much less avoidable thoughts.) is… if it’s true, there must be some way that they counter it.

Dimitri doubts he will ever be brave enough to ask Ranulf about it outright – he definitely doesn’t _trust_ Ranulf enough for that – but he will keep a careful eye on him.

Mad, wild animal as he is, Dimitri is at least aware enough to know that revenge is better served cold. If not, he risks too much… collateral damage. Perhaps it is a vain hope, but so long as there is any hope at all, he will be watching Ranulf closely.

* * *

Edelgard doesn’t know what to think. That is _very_ dangerous situation to be in. As soon as she returns to the monastery, she sets Hubert on the information Ranulf has divulged. The laguz, beast-shifters. There are whole tribes of them? Enough for nations? Armies?

In hindsight, it’s not ridiculous. After all, Rhea – Seiros – is a dragon. There’s no reason that it should be impossible for other beasts to take human form. And yet… Ranulf makes no effort to hide what he is. Not like Rhea.

At first, Edelgard thinks he is merely another twisted experiment by the Agarthans. When she sees the transformation, she is reminded of the horrible transformations that crest stones can induce in the crestless. She hasn’t heard of any experiments to make controlled, reversible transformations into demonic beasts, but she hardly expects that the Agarthans are being upfront with her about anything at all, and it is not a terribly illogical goal to aspire for.

But when she asks… he says he’s laguz. Just… a race of peoples, one unknown to Fódlan, with this exact power to transform into a great beast?

Likely story.

Ironically, however, it is the idea of Ranulf being entirely honest about his story that makes her more nervous. If he’s lying, perhaps trying to hide Agartha’s experiments on him by claiming he’s a mere traveler from a distant land where… _things_ like him are normal, then that would make sense. That wouldn’t shake anything about her plan or Fódlan as a whole. In fact, if she’s careful about it, she could even make a powerful ally in him just as she’s hoping to with Lysithea.

If he’s telling the truth, though… the implications are tremendous. Ranulf mentions dragons. Offhandedly, as if _dragons_ are no big deal at all. Is it possible that Rhea is truly nothing more than… laguz? Is that _all_ that the Nabateans are? Some separated tribe of laguz who found their way to Fódlan? What does that mean about the Goddess herself? Could she be just another laguz like all the rest?

She was killed, like any mortal. Edelgard knows this much. Her crest, though significantly more powerful, is not, in practice, much different than any other crest, all of which came from her Nabateans.

If Ranulf is telling the truth, then either he’s in grave danger stepping foot in Rhea’s domain, for his very existence threatens to unravel all of her lies, or it is solely her thoroughness in her lie that allows him to remain. Either way, he will surely be under the closest scrutiny.

If he’s telling the truth, he may ally himself with his kin. With Rhea, who may in fact be laguz under another name. If so, he is Edelgard’s enemy.

Edelgard should not be hurt by that thought. Even still, the familiar pain grips her heart. Another death on her hands. She prays that he chooses to flee instead. He is a foreigner. Laguz or no, he is _not_ Nabatean. Edelgard has no reason to believe so, anyway. He’s no dragon, after all, and he tells tales of his homeland far, far away. Even if the laguz and Nabateans are cousins, she need not hunt down every laguz. It is not him, after all, who rules over Fódlan with lies and tyranny.

That would be as ridiculous as hunting down the Almyrans, and Edelgard is already considering how she might smooth out relations with them and gain an ally rather than an enemy.

Even still… He is just a little too close to her enemy. Edelgard does not know what to think.

Hubert returns later with little information, but what there is seems to corroborate Ranulf’s story. Legends of shapeshifters in foreign lands, mostly regarded as myth, but definitely in line with what Ranulf is saying.

Is he using the myths to guide his fiction, perhaps? Or is his truth guiding the myths?

And what does that mean for Rhea?

Edelgard will go mad with all these questions. Meanwhile, Ranulf himself simply smirks and watches her stumble over her etiquette. As if it’s funny that she hasn’t been taught how to properly address shapeshifting, sentient animals.

Ugh. He is far too much like Claude.

At least there is Byleth. She, Edelgard believes, will be a valuable, if not necessary, asset when the time comes, if only she can sway her to her side. Of this, she is certain.

And with Ranulf snickering at her, certainty is exactly what Edelgard needs. Doubt will crush her dreams in their tracks, and unknowns like Ranulf are too dangerous to leave alone. More than anything, Edelgard needs to watch Ranulf closely, she needs to know what his motives are, how Rhea reacts to him. If Rhea strikes out, perhaps she can draw him to her side. If not…

Well, Edelgard is allied with quite enough monsters already. She doesn’t need to waste precious resources on another. Better to focus on Byleth. Having the Ashen Demon on her side, and possibly the Blade Breaker as well by extension (she _is_ his daughter) is too great a chance to pass up.

It is a shame, though, about Ranulf. Just as Byleth has, he has impressed her on the battlefield. He also has the advantage of being unexpected. Few soldiers will be prepared to fight a beast like him, and that is worth its weight in skill and experience, both of which he clearly _also_ has. That is the same advantage she’s counting on by utilizing demonic beasts, after all, and even if he is considerably more fragile, and less overtly powerful, he is sane and focused, which is far, far more valuable than a rampaging beast.

And… if he _is_ lying… if he was also subjected to Agarthan experimentation…

No, best not think too much on it. The truth will become clear soon enough, just as his allegiance will reveal itself in time. Edelgard needs merely to be patient, careful, and observant.

What’s one more life, in her larger plan? She will watch him, but she will not allow him to throw her off. Freedom will come to Fódlan. Swiftly.

* * *

Today is a blessed day. Rhea wakes up knowing it. She is already in good humor when she receives word that the house leaders are returning, and when she reads the message further and sees that _Jeralt_ of all people is returning with them, even she cannot fight the smile that tugs at her lips.

And the day just gets even better.

The message tells of Jeralt’s daughter, accompanying the group. Rhea fears to get her hopes up, that this daughter is the selfsame babe that she gave her mother’s heart to. But, when the party enters the gates and Rhea looks down upon them, there can be no mistake.

Her mother’s heart! It is not lost! All these years, Rhea thought she had finally failed utterly, with no more hope of even trying again, but here… it simply must be fate. Indeed, Rhea has a _very_ good feeling about this child.

What’s more, the notice of a beast-shifter, the thought of which tickles at ancient memories, gives her some concern, but upon seeing him…

His hair is blue, not too far off-shade of the young Bergliez attending the Academy this year, and the ears and tail are too obvious even from Rhea’s perch. More importantly is what she feels deep in her bones.

Recognition.

That is not to say she knows this man, of course. He is without a doubt a stranger to her. But her blood sings with a similar familiarity that she senses in dear Cichol and Cethleann. It’s fainter, more distant, but if she focuses on it, there can be no mistaking. This man, whatever he is, wherever he comes from, is a Child of the Goddess.

Truly, this a blessed day.

Rhea can hardly contain her excitement as she waits for the party to arrive in the audience chamber. She gives them some time to rest and eat but summons them swiftly. Jeralt, dear Jeralt, his daughter – her mother, if Rhea is lucky – and another of her mother’s children, though in an unfamiliar form.

Even dear Cichol’s frown cannot take the luster from this day.

When they finally arrive, Rhea knows instantly that Jeralt’s daughter is not yet Sothis reborn. A true shame, but hope is not lost. With her return, so hope does as well. That fate sees fit to bring Jeralt and his daughter back to Garreg Mach may even mean that this vessel is the one fated to work. Rhea has little choice but to have faith.

And faith she has. Always, in her mother.

And the Child, the one who introduces himself as Ranulf; now that he is so close, Rhea’s bones _scream_ of their relation. She glances to Seteth and sees in his eyes that he feels it as well, though he tries so very hard to remain stern and mean. In fact, Ranulf himself eyes them both with a _very_ interesting look that tells Rhea that even he feels it.

A long lost brother – or given he is no dragon, perhaps it is better to say cousin – wandering right onto her doorstep alongside the vessel of her mother. His mother, as well?

It pains Rhea to admit it, but she truly does not know a thing about Ranulf. She has never heard of the laguz he claims to be. Her best idea is that they are another group of Mother’s children, though why She never mentioned them to the Nabateans, to Rhea, she does not know.

It could also be that the relation is even more distant, that Ranulf is truly a cousin, that Mother has a sister, or brother, somewhere else in the world and is having their own children in a similar, but different image. If that’s true, then that aunt or uncle was never mentioned by her Mother. Not to Rhea.

That is a mystery, and one that Rhea has every intention of solving, but what is undoubtable is that Ranulf is her brother. In some way, it is true. She feels it in the way that only Mother’s Children do, and she reads his recognition in his face and the twitching of his tail as easily as she feels their relation in her blood.

Though, looking at him now, perhaps he is not a brother, but a nephew. He cannot be young, not like Byleth, not by human standards, but he is still so youthful. Compared to Rhea, at least, he is, without a doubt, a child. Perhaps older than Cethleann, before her slumber, or perhaps the cats are different from the dragons.

It’s is so painful, not knowing about her kin, and yet Rhea feels little but joy that he has found her now. Seteth warns her of caution, but Rhea will not turn away their kin, however distant he may be. Seteth knows as well as her how it feels to lose family. Any family found is nothing short of a miracle.

Not to mention how he walks into Mother’s domain at their Mother’s side.

It can only be a sign, and so Rhea welcomes the miracle that is Ranulf with open arms.

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the tags, this is mostly a proof of concept work. Given the Nabateans, I wanted to play with the idea that Sothis is a dragon like Naga, and that those dragons are descended from the dragon laguz. I actually even have a bunch of made-up lore around the crest stones and dragon/beast stones and crests and manaketes/taguel/etc too, but that's a Whole Thing.  
> Of course, that would date 3H at the far, far future from the Tellius games, but there's enough time shenanigans in Fire Emblem already that there's no real need to explain it. If nothing else, we can just say Ranulf stumbled through a dragon gate or something.


End file.
